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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Jasmin Lee, a Davaoeña, wins a seat in Korean Parliament

DAVAO CITY, Philippines
— A Davao native who emigrated to South Korea Jasmine Lee won a seat for proportional representation at the 19th Korean National Assembly during the general elections held on April 11, the Philippine embassy in Seoul said Thursday.

The 35-year-old Lee, a widow of a Korean, is the first parliamentarian from the growing immigrant community of South Korea.

Lee ran under the ruling Saenuri (New Frontier) Party, formerly known as the Grand National Party. Saenuri won 25 out of a total of 54 seats for party list representatives. Lee was number 15 on the list.

The ruling Saenuri party also grabbed the majority votes for the 300 parliamentary seats by winning 152 seats read more

Few have become a symbol of Korea’s multiculturalism like Jasmine Lee.
Lee, who has appeared on television shows such as KBS’ ``Love in Asia’’ and a cameo in the hit film ``Blood Brothers,’’ had no inkling her life would turn out this way when she first arrived in Korea in 1995.

The pretty and dusky Filipina was a 17 year old college freshman in 1994 when she met Lee Dong-ho, then 29, a seaman who was staying in her hometown in Davao, southern Philippines. Despite their age gap, the romance led to marriage a year-and-a-half later.

Their marriage initially encountered opposition from his parents, who did not understand why their eldest son would want to marry a foreigner. Plus language was also a big barrier, so she had to learn quickly read more..

Jasmin Lee Biography:

Jasmine Lee, 33, has two children, Seung-geon, 14, and Seung-yeon, 10. Her husband Lee Dong-ho died last month while saving their daughter from drowning in a mountain stream in Okcheon-dong, Gangwon province last month.

She grew up in Davao, southern Philippines. She was a college freshman majoring in Biology at the Ateneo de Davao University when she met her future husband Dong-ho in 1994. They were married in April 1995, and moved to Korea later that year. She became a Korean citizen in 1998.

Since 2006, Lee has appeared as a panelist on the KBS program ``Love in Asia” and a Korean language program on educational channel EBS. She also made a cameo as a Vietnamese bride in this year's hit film ``Blood Brothers,” which featured top stars Song Kang-ho and Kang Dong-won.

Lee also participated in the Center for Korean Women and Politics’ first migrant woman regional representative project in 2008. She was initially supported by the Grand National Party to gain a seat on the Seoul Metropolitan Council last June, but was dropped at the last minute.

Lee is active in lecturing on multiculturalism, and in several organizations. She is secretary general of Waterdrop, a charity formed by foreign spouses of Koreans, and a member of United Pilipinas in Korea, an organization of Filipinos living in the country.